Taylor and Katie

September 25, 2017

I met Taylor last year at Melodie and Ian’s Wedding in Colorado Springs. He drove me over to the ceremony site to pick some things up and we, almost immediately, drove off the road, into a small ditch. It was a great bonding experience. We left the car there until after the ceremony.

From there, things kind of just clicked. Taylor (and Katie as well, actually) works in coffee in CO. SP. so I would stop in and see him from time to time, and we’d hang at Growler’s and Games (a tradition for Mel and Ian that I dropped in for a few times, yet never often enough). After living in Denver for five years, one thing that is apparent is that there is a very loose sense of community. Everyone here is a transplant. Everyone here is trying to make it. Everyone came here as lonely adults.

The community that Taylor and Katie have around them in the Springs is some of the most authentic, sincere, and loving group of people I’ve met in a while. In fact, last year, they forced me to rethink the idea of community. So many of us are buzzing around, creating careers, making noise, and self-promoting. Yet for all of our self-promotion, are we really known? What does that mean for twenty-somethings these days? How do you become known in the age of Instagram and Social Media? So often we just put our best feet forward and rescind some of the less attractive versions of ourselves so as to not have to be vulnerable.

This day was about sincerity and depth. Love with no holds barred. These two are an inspiration for me and these people have made me rethink what it means to be known. What it means to exist in Community. A community is greater than the sum of its parts. Because it’s not math, it’s humanity. In this day and age, it’s a daily challenge to put this into practice and to experience the world as someone who participates vs. someone who just takes. We’re taught to do whatever it takes to build success. But sometimes you have to lose yourself to find yourself—becoming the servant of all.

Music by Imogen HeapMany Thanks to my friend and brother Alex for coming along to photograph and share in this with me